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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Martin Farrer (now), Kevin Rawlinson, Amanda Holpuch and Sam Jones (earlier)

Venezuela crisis: Maduro claims coup has been 'defeated' – as it happened

I am wrapping up this blog shortly.

Tom Phillips has filed a new story on the latest goings-on which he leads with Maduro’s claim that a coup attempt by Juan Guaidó has been defeated. You can read that here:

You can also catch up with via the summary of the drama that I posted about an hour ago here.

Thanks for joining us. Buenas noches.

Oil prices dip

Away from the immediate politics, it’s worth looking at what is happening with the price of oil – Venezuela’s main export and in many ways the source of much of the trouble engulfing the country.

Crude prices dipped in early trade in Asia on Wednesday thanks to a report showing that US inventories were higher than exppected. Spot Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were at $71.65 per barrel at 01.43 GMT, down 41c, or 0.6%, from their last close.

But traders believe that if Maduro stays in power, prices will continue to stay lower. “The possibility that Guaido will take control of the situation isn’t as strong as perceived this morning,” Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York, told Reuters. “If Maduro hangs on, you’ll see the market stay lower.”

Oil facilities at Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Venezuela.
Oil facilities at Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Venezuela. Photograph: Isaac Urrutia/Reuters

Venezuela produces about one millions barrels a day. That’s not a very much for a country with the world’s largest oil reserves. Saudi Arabia pumps nearly 10m a day. Many market experts blame poor management and corruption at the state-run oil company PDVSA – long used for park-barreling by the regime – as the root of the sector’s weakness.

Other theories have it that oil prices will spike if the crisis is prolonged, as per this piece we carried last year.

Despite the violence earlier in the day, reports say things are calmer on the streets of Caracas.

Reuters says that there is “an uneasy peace” in the capital. It says human rights organisations have reported that 109 people were injured in the clashes earlier between Guaidó supporters and the security forces. Most were reportedly hit by pellets or rubber bullets.

Summary

Now that Maduro and Guaidó have had their say, it might be useful to catch up with what we know so far about what appears to be some sort of uprising in Venezuela.

  • President Nicolas Maduro has addressed the Venezuelan people for the first time since the rebellion led by Juan Guaidó began on Tuesday morning. Speaking at around 9pm local time on Tuesday, Maduro claimed the “coup” has been defeated and that the perpetrators were being “interrogated”.
  • Guaidó released a video message about half an hour earlier in which he called on people to “hit the streets” for a mass demonstration against the Maduro regime on Wednesday.
  • He called the uprising he triggered on Tuesday morning a “peaceful rebellion” and denied it was a coup attempt. He said the “final phase” of the collapse of the Maduro regime had begun.
  • His call to arms after being filmed flanked by armed men in uniform led to violent street clashes. But the military appeared to remain mostly loyal to Maduro.
  • In his address, Maduro was flanked by defence minister Vladimir Padrino, appearing to contradict earlier claims by US national security chief John Bolton that key figures from the Maduro government were about to defect.
  • In an almost hour-long speech, Maduro also denied US claims that he planned to flee to Cuba but was persuaded to remain in Venezuela by his main overseas backer, Russia.
  • The president also claimed that some perpetrators had fled to the Brazilian embassy in Caracas. There was no indication in Guaidó’s video about his whereabouts.

Maduro denies planning to flee to Cuba

Maduro, who has now finished his speech, says some of the military officials involved in the rebellion had fled to the Brazilian embassy in Caracas.

He also denied the claim by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo earlier that he had been preparing to flee to Cuba until the Russians, who have given Maduro their full backing, said he should not leave the country.

John Bolton’s claim earlier that key figures from the regime, including defence minister Vladimir Padrino, were about to defect seemed to be contradicted tonight when Padrino appeared alongside Maduro when he made his speech.

In case you missed the earlier post, Bolton said three senior Maduro aides had committed to establishing a peaceful transfer of power to the opposition. Along with Padrino, supreme court chief judge Maikel Moreno and presidential guard commander Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala as havning been involved in those conversations.

John Bolton speaks to the media in Washington.
John Bolton speaks to the media in Washington. Photograph: Douglas Christian/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

The ultra-hawkish Bolton warned Maduro his “time is up”.

Tom is still tweeting highlights from Maduro’s address.

The president has accused the plotters of trying to spark an armed confrontation between Venezuelans that could be used to justify foreign intervention “so the empire could get its claws into Venezuela”. (For empire read the “Yankee imperialists”, of course)

Maduro also claimed that by noon on Tuesday 80% of troops involved in the mutiny attempt had abandoned Guaidó. Only a small group of about 20 was left having “handed over their souls to the coup-mongering far right”.

Maduro is still speaking.

He says the perpetrators of the coup were being interrogated. “This cannot go unpunished ... all of those involved must surrender.”

Maduro says his government will continue to be victorious and that his regime will continue to keep a “razor steel” nerve to protect the country.

In a rambling address, the president says that the rebellion was detected at about 4.15am and was led by Leopoldo Lopez “the fascist”.

He claimed his government responded with “nerves of steel, maximum serenity and effective action”.

The mutineers were heavily armed but had been overcome by the armed forces consisting of the army and the “Bolivarian national guard”.

Coup has been defeated, Maduro says

The president says the mutiny by Juan Guaidó has been defeated. He has Venezuela will never surrender to “imperialist forces”.

Updated

Maduro is about to speak ...

El presidente is speaking now ...

Another exciting development in Caracas where it is rumoured that Maduro is about to address the nation – his first appearance since Guaidó’s mutiny began before dawn on Tuesday.

Tom Phillips says: “Frantic speculation about why he has taken so long to show his face – we may be about to find out why.”

Following up his claim that Maduro no longer has the backing of the military, Guaidó calls in his message for members of the military to “keep advancing” in efforts to oust the president.

Updated

Guaidó: 'This is not a coup but a peaceful rebellion'

Guaidó says “the whole of Venezuela must hit the streets” on Wednesday in order to force president Nicolás Maduro from power.

He says the action that he has initiated this week is not a coup but “a peaceful rebellion” and says Maduro today “does not have the backing of the armed forces”.

Juan Guaidó calls for people to 'hit the streets' on 1 May in video message

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó has issued a rallying call to supporters on YouTube.

You can watch the full video here:

Updated

A huge number of people of left Venezuela in recent years as the country’s economic and social fabric have deteriorated. Tom Phillips has been speaking to some of them as they gathered outside the country’s embassy in Mexico City and hearing about how they yearn to return to their homeland.

One of them, Yoraco Falcón, a 30-year-old Uber driver who abandoned Venezuela with his family last August, said: “We miss Venezuela. We love Venezuela. As soon as Maduro’s government falls, so many of us will go straight back … I want my son to grow up in Venezuela just like I did,” Falcón said.

Guaidó supporters burn a picture of the late president Hugo Chávez outside the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico City.
Guaidó supporters burn a picture of the late president Hugo Chávez outside the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico City. Photograph: Luis Cortes/Reuters

But they don’t have it all their own way. A pro-Maduro demonstrator, Sofía Nava, 47, said: “We support sovereignty. We are against interventionism. We are against Trump’s tricks. We don’t want an invasion.”

You can read Tom’s whole piece here:

This is Martin Farrer taking over the blog from Kevin. Good morning, good evening, buenos días, buenas noches ... wherever you are thanks for joining us.

Our man Latin American correspondent, Tom Phillips, has just filed an update from Mexico City:

Juan Guaidó’s representative in Mexico, Reinaldo Díaz Ohep, has just been addressing supporters outside the Venezuelan embassy here and his speech gives a sense of the profound uncertainty millions of Venezuelan exiles are feeling tonight after today’s attempted uprising.

Díaz, who is 32, said there was a lot of “disinformation going around” about what was really going on in Venezuela and said the coming hours could bring frustration, anxiety and even despair.

“But it is really important ... that you know that what is going on at this moment is not improvised,” Díaz insisted.

He admitted political battle in Venezuela was an emotional roller coaster “and that is perfectly understandable – we have families over there who are suffering.”

But he insisted that the so-called Operation Freedom to force Maduro from power was now in its final stage. Guaidó and his team were “working to solve this problem, as soon as possible”. Fresh protests would be held on Wednesday. Guaidó was likely to make a fresh pronouncement tonight.

The Chilean foreign minister, Roberto Ampuero, has said López and his wife have moved to the Spanish embassy. There is no mention of the whereabouts of their daughter, who was also reported to be with them (see this post).

Ampuero said it was a personal decision on their part because the Chilean embassy already has guests staying.

According to Antonio Ledezma, a former mayor of Caracas and opposition politician, Leopoldo López has not requested asylum from Chile and is “no longer in the diplomatic residence”.

Venezuelan media is reporting that dozens of people were injured in Caracas today after the attempted mutiny against Maduro. The Efecto Cocuyo website says at least 69 people were taken to hospital; two of them having received gun shot wounds.

Earlier, the Associated Press quoted the director of a Caracas medical centre as saying doctors were treating 50 patients. Maggia Santi said 30 of those injured were shot with rubber bullets, another 16 sustained bodily trauma, three reported difficulty breathing and one was shot with a firearm.

She said doctors had sufficient supplies to treat the injured, in part due to recent donations by organisations including the Red Cross. The person injured by gunfire was reported to be stable.

A crowd of about 500 or 600 Maduro supporters has gathered outside the presidential palace in Caracas.

One of them is 50-year-old Elsa Aguilar, who lives in Jardines de El Valle, a working class area in west Caracas. She is a member of the Bolivarian Militia – a group set up under Hugo Chávez, in which civilians receive military training.

Elsa Aguilar
Elsa Aguilar

I’ve been here since 6.30am. As soon as I heard the news, I took action and came here to Miraflores to fight for my country against these disasters who want to bring in the US, through their lackeys, here in Venezuela. We’re well-organised and we know what to do in moments like this.

Julian Rivero, is a 63-year-old retired former worker with the Misión Barrio Adentro, part of the parallel health system Hugo Chávez built with the help of Cuba. He lives in Valles del Tuy, a commuter town about 40 min southeast from Caracas.

Julian Rivero
Julian Rivero

Rivero carried a bag of mangos, which he said would keep him going through the day.

I hitchhiked down here because I don’t have the money for the fare. I brought my breakfast, lunch and dinner with me because I’m going to stay and defend the revolution.

I lived through the Venezuela before [Chávez] and I can say that the benefits for the people are much better now.

He had nothing but scorn for the opposition.

That lot want there to be deaths to create chaos in the country, but we don’t want that. We want peace. They are breaking Venezuela.

Updated

Ramping up the pressure on key figures in Caracas, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, has just put out this video. He calls on all Venezuelans to take action to remove Maduro and the “kleptocrats” around him and regain their “libertad”.

This is a critical point for your history.

Here’s a clip of Pompeo’s interview with CNN, in which he demands the Maduro leave and provides “strong assurances” of Washington’s support for Guaidó.

He refuses to say what the US would do if the opposition leader were arrested, but says it would be seen as a “major escalation” and reiterates that military options are among those Washington considers as being on the table.

Updated

Venezuela’s UN ambassador has claimed Maduro has “defeated” Guaidó and his supporters and that the “country is right now in a situation of perfect normality”, the Associated Press reports.

Samuel Moncada said Maduro has “taken the necessary steps to guarantee the security and right to peace of our people”, adding: “We have defeated them.”

Moncada says the UN Security Council should discuss Tuesday’s call by Guaidó for a military uprising against Maduro.

He also criticises the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, for not openly supporting Maduro’s government. Earlier in the day, Guterres urged all sides in Venezuela to exercise “maximum restraint,” avoid any violence, take immediate steps to restore calm, and resolve differences peacefully through dialogue.

US claims Russia talked Maduro out of leaving Venezuela

After the US president’s threats against Cuba, the Trump administration is aiming its rhetorical fire at Moscow.

In an interview with CNN, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has said Washington had indications that Maduro was ready to leave Venezuela for the Cuban capital, Havana. The plane was “on the tarmac”, Pompeo said, but Russia convinced the Venezuelan president to stay.

Earlier, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, had warned Russia not to get involved, while Moscow has pointed the finger back and said the USA was trying to undermine its ally.

Updated

The New York-based advocacy group, the Human Rights Foundation, has issued strong condemnation of the Maduro regime and accused corrupt elements of the Venezuelan military of working to keep him in power.

The US president, Donald Trump, is threatening an embargo and high-level sanctions against Cuba over its support for Maduro.

Earlier this month, Cuba’s leader Raúl Castro promised his nation would not abandon its leftist ally in Caracas, despite what he called Washington’s “blackmail”, as the Trump administration threatened sanctions.

Cuba has denied the Trump White House’s claims that its security and intelligence officials have been involved in propping up Maduro.

The Agence France-Presse news agency reports that hundreds of Venezuelans have rallied in central Madrid in support of Guaido.

About 300 people gathered in the Puerta del Sol square in the Spanish capital, waving Venezuelan flags and brandishing banners with slogans such as “Maduro is destroying Venezuela”.

“This isn’t a state coup,” a former mayor of Caracas and opposition politician, Antonio Ledezma, told the crowd, which included Venezuelan opposition figures, as well as officials from Spain’s conservative Popular Party and the centre-right Ciudadanos.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish government had earlier said Madrid “strongly hope(d) that there will be no bloodshed” in Venezuela. Isabel Celaa called for “democratic elections” and said Madrid supports a “peaceful” outcome to the Venezuela crisis.

Lula’s Workers’ party and other Brazilian leftist groups have condemned what they called an “attempted coup” in Venezuela, saying it is being “carried out by the right-wing, coup-monger, anti-Chavista opposition”. The party, Brazil’s biggest leftist organisation, said in a statement on Tuesday:

Its failure to achieve this objective is the clear result of the support that the party and its government have together with people, after years of policies aimed at the well-being of the population and against imperialist exploitation and local elites.

The party, known as the PT, was co-founded by the imprisoned former president, Lula, and ran the country for 13 years until his successor, Dilma Rousseff was impeached in 2016. It has continuously supported the Maduro regime and its president, Gleisi Hoffmann, a hardline leftist who enjoys Lula’s support, attended Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration in January – following last May’s controversial election win. Hoffmann signed the statement along with congressmen and Monica Valente, its secretary for international relations.

It said it would not accept “anti-democratic attitudes” and said the economic embargo against Venezuela should be lifted and “democratic forces” should seek dialogue. “Peace in Venezuela is a struggle for all Latin-American and other democrats in the world,” it added.

Other Brazilian leftists have also come out against today’s move by Juan Guaidó to wrest power from Maduro. Jandira Feghali, a congresswoman for the Communist Party of Brazil, has been broadcasting Venezuelan TV channel TeleSur on her Facebook under the message: “Urgent: Venezuela fights against coup by foreign forces.”

Leftist media organisation Jornalistas Livres (Free Journalists) shared photos of pro-Maduro demonstrations on its Facebook captioned: “DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE. Against coup mongers, the Venezuelan people go to the streets of Caracas in support of Maduro.”

Jornalistas Livres site reproduced an interview carried on Diário do Centro do Mundo (Diary from the Centre of the World) with Edson Bagnara, a Brazilian it said is from Brazil’s Landless Movement (Movimento Sem Terra) and is in Venezuela, headlined: “The coup failed.”

“Another attempt to strike here in Venezuela, and much more than the actual strength of what is happening here, is the media strength of the extreme right,” Bagnara told the site.

People on the ground are reporting that members of the pro-Maduro Colectivos paramilitary groups have fired rounds from a government building in the Chacao suburb of Caracas.

There had earlier been reports that weapons from the nation’s security forces had recently been handed to the Colectivos.

Rosa Serrano, a 55-year-old architect who lives in Chacao, tells the Guardian’s Patricia Torres:

From the car par of the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport, a group of Colectivos began firing at people protesting on Francisco de Miranda Avenue. Apparently, there is a girl wounded by a firearm.

Why are people still here if there are Colectivos nearby?

They attack us and then they take refuge in the headquarters of the government ministries. I am not afraid because I have been fighting against this for 20 years and the time has come [and] hope has come back to stay. Here, it does not matter if you are from the east or the west, all together and together we will get out of this.

Rosa Serrano
Rosa Serrano Photograph: The Guardian

Summary

It’s been a busy day in Venezuela following an attempted military uprising in Caracas. The opposition leader Juan Guaidó urged supporters to take to the streets to force his rival Nicolás Maduro from power.

Here’s where things are at now:

  • Despite images showing some military members in support of Guaidó, Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro said he had spoken with military leaders that showed “total loyalty.” Maduro had not been seen in public as of Tuesday afternoon and its unclear where he is located at the moment.
  • Guaidó, meanwhile, addressed crowds in different parts of Caracas, rallying citizens to take to the streets. “Today it is clear to us that the Armed Forces are with the people and not with the dictator,” Guaidó told a crowd in Altamira.
  • There were reports of gunfire, teargas and water cannon use at demonstrations. And live broadcasts of a protest near La Carolta air base in Caracas showed armored military vehicles driving into crowds of protestors. It’s not clear yet how many people were injured or if anyone was killed.
  • Throughout the day, US officials declared support for the opposition. In the afternoon, National Security Adviser, John Bolton, claimed senior Maduro aides were aware of the planned uprising and prepared to help lead a peaceful transition of power.
Demonstrators gather near La Carlota air force on April 30, 2019 in Caracas, Venezuela
Demonstrators gather near La Carlota air force on April 30, 2019 in Caracas, Venezuela Photograph: Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images

Some of the transcript from US national security advisor, John Bolton’s, comments outside the White House this afternoon, including his claim that the senior Maduro aides were aware of the uprising.

We see this now is a potentially dispositive moment in the efforts of the Venezuelan people to regain their freedom which we fully support..We think it’s still very important for key figures in the regime who have been talking to the opposition over these last three months to make good on their commitments to achieve the peaceful transfer of power from the Maduro clique to interim President Juan Guiado. Figures like Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, the chief judge of the Venezuelan supreme court. Maikel Moreno, commander of the presidential guard Rafael Hernandez Dala. All agreed that Maduro had to go. They need to be able to act this afternoon or this evening to help bring other military forces to the side of the interim president.

More on Leopoldo López, the opposition leader who escaped house arrest to appear at Guaidó’s side in his video address this morning, from Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá:

López has arrived at the Chilean embassy in Caracas, according to a tweet from Chile’s foreign minister, Roberto Ampuero. Guaidó’s mentor reportedly joins his wife Lilian Tintori and daughter there.

“Chile reaffirms commitment with Venezuelan democrats,” Ampuero said.

That same embassy has been hosting Freddy Guevara since November 2017, who like Guaidó is a member of López’s Popular Will party. Guevara, like López before him, was accused of instigating violence at protests by the Maduro government.

Opposition leader Leopoldo López has requested asylum at the Chilean embassy in Caracas, according to Sylvia Colombo, a reporter for Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo newspaper who is in Caracas, quoting local media. There is no information yet if the request was accepted, she wrote.

The newspaper also reported that Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has accepted the asylum requests of 25 Venezuelan military personnel at the Brazilian embassy in Caracas. It said the information had been confirmed with the presidency spokesman, General Otávio Rêgo Barros.

Bolton: "all options" on the table

The US national security advisor, John Bolton, has said “all options” remain on the table for responding to the situation in Venezuela.

Bolton claimed three senior Maduro aides had committed to establishing a peaceful transfer of power to the opposition in remarks outside the White House. Bolton named Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Supreme Court chief judge Maikel Moreno and presidential guard commander Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala as havning been involved in those conversations.

Bolton blamed Cuba for helping support the Maduro regime and said it has told Russia not to interfere with Venezuela.

He also tweeted at the senior Maduro aides, telling them “your time is up.”

“This is your last chance,” Bolton wrote. “Accept Interim President Guaido’s amnesty, protect the Constitution, and remove Maduro, and we will take you off our sanctions list. Stay with Maduro, and go down with the ship.”

The Guardian’s former Latin America correspondent (now in Ireland), Rory Carroll, writes about the difference between Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

Oil prices tumbled and Maduro proved to be a fumbling showman, exposing the financial ineptitude and ideological hollowness of the “Bolivarian revolution”.

This could have doomed his presidency, which began in 2013 after Chávez died.

But the former bus driver, a hulking bear of a man who rose up trade union ranks, turned out to be tenacious and ruthless.

The story of his rule – and Venezuela’s agony – is a determination to keep power amid economic collapse, humanitarian disaster and international condemnation.

The military uprising which erupted on Tuesday has presented the sternest test yet, for Maduro and the Bolivarian project which Chavez launched in 1999.

“Nerves of steel!” Maduro tweeted in defiance hours after the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, appeared with mutinous troops outside La Carlota, a military base six miles from the presidential palace, Miraflores, in the capital Caracas.

A raft of senior US officials have commented on the situation in Venezuela all morning via Twitter, and now the US president has commented to say he is watching the situation “very closely.”

Patricia Torres is in Caracas, reporting for the Guardian at a Guaidó rally.

A young demonstrator, Victor Zabala, has rubber bullet injuries across his back and arms. The 25-year-old said he was shot at by the National Guard while helping get people away from the highway near Plaza Altamira.

Zabala accused the National Guard of not just shooting rubber bullets, but of shooting actual gunfire at protestors.

National Guard in Venezuela stand with defectors in Plaza Altamira
National Guard in Venezuela stand with defectors in Plaza Altamira Photograph: The Guardian

Updated

The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, just spoke with Guaidó’s representative in Mexico, Reinaldo Díaz Ohep, outside the Venezuelan embassy where a large protest is underway.

“We are very happy. This is a definite process,” Díaz says.

“This is an unprecedented [push] ... to end the dictatorship ... We are closer than ever before.”

“Today represents our country’s liberation. It represents [the end of] 20 years of the same party, the same trends, which have led our country into the greatest economic crisis and the greatest migration crisis in Latin America.”

Díaz said his message to Maduro was: “Get out, while you still can. Get out, accept the amnesty... We don’t want Nicolas Maduro in power any more.”

If Maduro did not respond to those calls to stand aside there was a risk of bloodshed and violence.

“Get on a flight and go,” he said.

Today’s events are not the first time Venezuela’s leadership has been challenged – it’s actually something that has happened repeatedly since Hugo Chávez became president in 1999 and has continued since Nicolás Maduro came to power.

The Washington Post has a timeline of previous attempts by security forces to topple their respective governments:

A few have been small-scale efforts — such as a June 2017 incident in which a former police officer tossed grenades from a helicopter at government buildings and a bizarre event in August 2018 in which two drones carrying explosives detonated near a platform where Maduro was giving a speech. Others were more complex.

Maduro has been wary of a military uprising as his oil-rich country has slid into economic chaos. Both he and Chávez have tried to control the powerful armed forces by elevating hundreds of officers to the rank of general and providing senior officers with lucrative perks, including roles in running military businesses. Surveillance of officers is also said to be intense.

Updated

Sam Jones, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent, spoke with the deputy director of programs for the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Josh Balser, deputy director of Programs for the International Rescue Committee, said the charity was currently seeing an increase in the number of people crossing into Colombia from Venezuela.

“At this point, there’s a lot of people coming in and it’s generally peaceful,” he said. “The co-ordination mechanisms are revising their contingency planning to make sure that any response for increased population figures is adequate to meet the need. We’re waiting to hear on more official news. But so far, no major alarms.”

Balser, who is en route to the Colombian border city of Cúcuta, said that around 5,000 people a a day were estimated to be entering Colombia each day “with the intention to stay”.

Updated

Venezuelan journalist Luz Mel Reyes, who co-founded Efecto Cocuyo, is reporting that Guaidó had planned “Operación Libertad,” for another day.

Other shocking information in Mely Reyes’s tweet includes a claim that the protest was brought forward because the government was about to arrest Guaidó and that he had at one point had more support from the military.

Outside the Venezuela embassy in Washington DC, crowds have gathered in support and against Maduro’s rule.

The group of Maduro supporters is decidedly outnumbered by his opponents. The supporters carry signs made by the Answer Coalition, a group that opposes US intervention abroad.

They chanted “Chávez lives, the fight continues.”

Updated

Dan Collyns sends updates from Lima, Peru, where regional leaders have declared support for Guaidó.

Ecuador’s foreign minister José Valencia, tweeted:

“The government of Ecuador renews its firm support of president Juan Guaidó in the difficult times which Venezuela is living. We hope for a peaceful transition without bloodshed. We support all international efforts in that respect.”

And Peru’s foreign ministry voiced its support for Juan Guaidó:

“We fully support the interim president Juan Guaidó in his fight to regain democracy in Venezuela. Maduro’s usurping and dictatorial regime of must come to its end.”

“Peru and the Lima Group is closely following the situation in Venezuela with a view to convening an emergency meeting.”

Peru leads the Lima Group of 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries which do not recognise Nicolas Maduro’s government and has called for him to step down. The countries include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. Guyana and Saint Lucia joined later.

Brazil president, Jair Bolsonaro, tweeted that Brazil is following the situation in Venezuela very closely and reaffirms its support for the “democratic transition”.

“Brazil is on the side of the Venezuelan people, of president Juan Guaidó and of the freedom of Venezuelans,” he said.

President Bolsonaro’s congressman son Eduardo, who heads the Congress foreign affairs committee and is in frontier state Roraima, blamed Hezbollah and Cuban soldiers for helping Maduro in power in a tweet and said he hopes he falls.

“Hoping that @NicolasMaduro leaves power any way possible. The worst that could happen is he stays in power with support from the drug trade, Hezbollah, Pranes, soldiers of the Cuban dictatorship and all sorts of criminals. God protect the Venezuelans,” he posted.

Earlier Tuesday broadcast a Facebook live from a car travelling to Pacaraima on the border with fellow lawmakers. Last night another Facebook Live broadcast complaints from Venezuelans in a camp in the Roraiama state capital Boa Vista.

Updated

Senior editor at the Economist, Michael Reid, compares the brutal moment when government security forces rammed into demonstrators in Caracas to the moment a demonstrator in China stood up to the government in the 1989 Tianamen Square protests.

As has Alberto Rojas, a reporter at El Mundo:

Updated

A video update from Venezuela, where gunshots were heard at a rally led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó outside a Caracas airbase.

Reuters witnesses said men in military uniform who were accompanying Guaidó at the scene, were exchanging fire with soldiers acting in support of Maduro. The witnesses said the shots appeared to be live rounds

United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has urged maximum restraint in Venezuela to avoid violence, a UN spokesman told reporters. Guterres is also available to mediate, said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

“The secretary general urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint and he appeals to all stakeholders to avoid any violence and take immediate steps to restore calm,” Dujarric said.

Venezuela’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, said “acts of violence” by some members of the armed forces had been “partly defeated” in an address broadcast on state television.

He added that the military’s top ranks remained “loyal to the constitution.”

And the country’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, has tweeted at US vice president Mike Pence, calling him the “head of the attempted coup d’etat.”

Opposition leaders have called for support at Venezuelan embassies across the country. One of those protests is underway in Mexico City:

They are shouting “Guaidó, amigo, the people are with you” and “Maduro, get fucked.”

Updated

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday accused the opposition in Venezuela of resorting to violence in what it said was a brazen attempt to draw the country’s armed forces into clashes, according to Reuters:

Russia, which has supplied weapons to Venezuela and acted as a lender of last resort, has accused the United States of trying to undermine Maduro, someone Moscow counts as one of its closest allies in Latin America.

“The radical opposition in Venezuela has once again returned to violent methods of confrontation,” the foreign ministry said. “Instead of peacefully settling political differences, they have taken a course designed to whip up conflict, and provoke breaches of public order and clashes involving the armed forces.”

The ministry called on the opposition to renounce violence and embrace negotiations instead, saying it was vital to avoid bloodshed.

President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Venezuela at a meeting of his Security Council earlier on Tuesday.

Russia has sent nearly 100 military personnel to Caracas, a contingent the Kremlin has described as military specialists. Russian news agencies cited the Russian embassy in Venezuela on Tuesday as saying the Russian personnel were not involved in the clashes between the opposition and the authorities.

Joe Parkin Daniels, writes for the Guardian about military defectors who have shown support for Juan Guaidó today .

On Tuesday morning, scores of Venezuelan military defectors loyal to Guaidó gathered at the Simón Bolívar border bridge outside Cúcuta, Colombia, to express support for the nascent uprising taking place in Caracas.

The defectors were unarmed and chose not to wear uniforms “out of respect to Colombia” which is hosting them, one national guardsman said, asking not to be named due to the febrile nature of the situation. “We are awaiting orders from our president Juan Guaidó,” he said.

However, with little clear command structure on the border, and the location of the gathering changed from the nearby Tienditas bridge complex at the last minute, the group had largely dissipated hours later.

A steady trickle of Venezuelan military defectors have arrived to the Colombian border city of Cúcuta since February 23, when Guaidó attempted in vein to force US-sent humanitarian aid into Venezuela. Colombian authorities estimate that up to 1000 of Venezuela’s security forces have defected.

Many defectors dreamed of crossing back into Venezuela as an army, assisting with overthrowing Maduro’s government, though reality soon bit.

“For a while we felt abandoned,” said Frank Rengifo, formerly a sergeant in Venezuela’s national guard. “We were staying in hotels but nobody paid the bills,” he went on to say, accusing Guaidó’s emissaries of forgetting about them for a time.

“Thankfully that was a month ago and it is better now,” he said. “We have better food and more of our families are here.”

Others recently complained that not enough was being done to assist militarily with regime change in Caracas.

The defectors had also planned a march to Bogotá to demand better services earlier this month, but later cancelled it, worried that it could affect their protected status. Many of the soldiers currently have asylum applications underway, with which UNHCR is assisting.

National guard armored vehicles driving into protestors

Live footage on BBC World News shows hundreds of demonstrators in Caracas in confrontation with military vehicles on a large roadway outside the La Carolta air base. Behind the three military vehicles stands a line of military soldiers.

One of the vehicles is firing a water cannon at protestors, who crowded around the vehicle. At one point the vehicle accelerated, then shuddered to a quick stop, appearing to hit protestors.

Another armored vehicle appears to have ran directly over protestors at a different section of the roadway. A horrific video (at this link) shows a vehicle driving through a crowd of protestors, with at least one person still lying on the ground after it passes.

Crowds of hundreds more people are wrapped around nearby roadways.

Guaidó’s ambassador to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, just held a press conference in Washington DC.

“This is only the beginning,” Vecchio said. “This is an operation that is developing right now, you will see more events in the hours and days to come.”

He encouraged people to remain on the streets, demonstrating peacefully.

“This is not a military coup, this is a constitutional crisis, lead by the Venezuelan people,” Vecchio said.

He also had a message for Maduro: “Your time is over. Venezuela is ready for a change, you must facilitate a transition in our country. You must allow the Venezuelan people to reestablish a Democratic system… nobody is going to stop it.”

Click here or below to see a gallery of the dramatic scenes unfolding in Caracas.

Sympathizers of Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido wave the Venezuelan national flag outside the military base of La Carlota, where Guaido remains inside backed by a group of military personnel
Sympathizers of Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido wave the Venezuelan national flag outside the military base of La Carlota, where Guaido remains inside backed by a group of military personnel Photograph: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA
Members of the Bolivarian National Guard loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro run under a cloud of tear gas after being repelled with rifle fire by guards supporting Venezuelan opposition leader
Members of the Bolivarian National Guard loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro run under a cloud of tear gas after being repelled with rifle fire by guards supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Photograph: Yuri Cortéz/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has tweeted support for the uprising, saying the Venezuelan people are “enslaved by a dictator.”

He said Brazil supports “freedom for our sister nation to finally become a true democracy.”

This video appears to show a National Guard armored military vehicle in the town of Puerto Ordaz turning away from protestors, who cheer with encouragement as the vehicle speeds away from the crowd.

In Caracas, the scene looks much different with the National Guard chasing away protestors.

Venezuela’s foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, has accused Donald Trump’s adminstration of sparking the conflict in Venezuela.

Opposition leaders around the world are calling for Venezuelans to head to embassies and consulates to join protests, says the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips.

This message, from a Guaidó representative in Mexico, encourages Venezuelans to gather outside the Mexico City embassy at 11am.

Guaidó: 'the moment is now'

Juan Guaidó is addressing demonstrators in Altamira, Caracas. He said he has been in communication with the military for years but today he knows they are not supporting Maduro - “el dictador.”

Operation Liberty has started, he said.

“Today it is clear to us that the Armed Forces are with the people and not with the dictator,” Guaidó told the crowd. “We know that all Venezuelans are in favor of change and the Constitution “

In a Tweet, Guaidó also declared “the moment is now.”

“The country’s 24 states have taken to the road: no turning back. The future belongs to us: the people and Armed Forces united by the cessation of usurpation.”

Updated

More from Patricia Torres in Caracas, reporting for the Guardian:

Cecilia Fernández, 69, an accountant and professor at a private university in Caracas, is demonstrating on the street and said the people of Venezuela are “retaking history.”

We are making history, retaking the history, because we are a country of liberators. These 20 years were not enough to impose a dictator on us to sell the country and that’s why I say: out with Russia, out with Cuba, out with China; living leeches of Latin America. Today, we are aborting Fidel’s dream, at this instant, at this moment. From now, on, we will not stop until we get freedom. We can’t allow them to keep stealing and destroying our country.

Cecilia Fernández, on the streets of Caracas, surrounded by other demonstrators carrying Venezuelan flags
Cecilia Fernández, on the streets of Caracas, surrounded by other demonstrators carrying Venezuelan flags Photograph: Patricia Torres/The Guardian

Updated

Maduro: military has shown 'total loyalty'

Nicolás Maduro says he has spoken with military leaders who have shown: “total loyalty to the People, to the Constitution and to the Fatherland.”

His message begins “Nerves of Steel!”

Updated

Colombian president, Iván Duque, said this morning he supports Guaidó and urged Venezuela’s military to reject Maduro’s leadership:

We call the military and the people of #Venezuela to be on the right side of history, rejecting the dictatorship and usurpation of Maduro; uniting in search of freedom, democracy and institutional reconstruction, headed by @AsambleaVE and the President @jguaido

From Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro:

Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reports that President Jair Bolsonaro has called an emergency meeting on Venezuela for 12.30 Brasília time (16.30 UK), quoting Vice-President, retired General Hamilton Mourão. Meeting will include foreign minister Ernesto Araújo, minister of institutional security, retired General Augusto Heleno and defence minister, retired General Fernando Azevedo as well as Mourão

Reuters now reporting that Guaidó’s rally is on the move from La Carlota military base in Caracas …

Brazil’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, said on Tuesday that his country supports a democratic transition in Venezuela. Araujo said in a press conference in Brasilia that the Brazilian government expects Venezuela’s military to get behind Guaidó on Tuesday and push Maduro out of power. (Via Reuters)

Updated

US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo

This from Patricia Torres in Caracas

Right now, I can see lots of regular, normal people and their children walking spontaneously towards Plaza Altamira [scene of anti-Maduro protests] to show their support for Guaidó and López’s and all the national assembly members who are there. They’re carrying flags and the atmosphere is very cheerful at the moment.

She has also spoken to Mariana Otero, a 32-year-old housewife, who is draped in a Venezuelan flag. She told Patricia:

Venezuelan brothers and sisters, today, 30 April, I tell you we will see each other in a free Venezuela, the Venezuela we all want and are fighting for

We’re waiting for all those who’ve gone abroad to come back and join us. Kisses! We’ll see each other in a free Venezuela!

Updated

A quick note to say that the video purporting to show a confrontation between members of the National Guard in Caracas has apparently been removed from Twitter.

David Agren in Mexico City has sent in this statement from the Mexican government:

We are closely following the situation in Venezuela and express our concern over the possible escalation of violence and bloodshed that could result from these events.

Mexico repeats its desire for, and commitment to, a peaceful, democratic and dialogue-based solution to this crisis - and one that is always founded respect for human rights.

This video, from Venezuelan TV news, apparently shows members of the National Guard loyal to Guaidó trying to force their colleagues to get out of their armoured cars on a main road in Caracas.

Leopoldo López’s wife, Lilian Tintori, has just told Joe Parkin Daniels that her husband was released “to free Venezuela alongside Guaidó”.

US national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday appeared to back Juan Guaidó’s call for support after the Venezuelan opposition leader urged Venezuelans and the military to back his effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

“The [armed forces] must protect the Constitution and the Venezuelan people. It should stand by the National Assembly and the legitimate institutions against the usurpation of democracy. The United States stands with the people of Venezuela,” Bolton tweeted. (Via Reuters)

Reports of shots fired

Reuters reporting shots - apparently live rounds - fired near the La Carlota military base

Gunshots were heard at a rally led by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó outside a Caracas air base, witnesses said, after Guaidó said earlier that troops had joined him to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

The Reuters witnesses said men in military uniform, who were accompanying Guaidó at the scene, were exchanging fire with soldiers acting in support of Maduro. The witnesses said the shots appeared to be live rounds.

Updated

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the ongoing military uprising in Venezuela with his top security body.

Russian news agencies on Tuesday quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Putin raised the current developments in Venezuela during his scheduled meeting with the Security Council.

Peskov said that the meeting “paid significant attention to the news reports about a coup attempt in that country”.

He did not elaborate further. (Via AP)

Tear gas fired in Caracas

A Maduro opponent throws a tear gas canister back at military personnel guarding La Carlota air base.
A Maduro opponent throws a tear gas canister back at military personnel guarding La Carlota air base. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/AP
Protesters wear masks against tear gas.
Protesters wear masks against tear gas. Photograph: Yuri Cortéz/AFP/Getty Images
Venezuelans run away from tear gas during scuffles with security forces in Caracas.
Venezuelans run away from tear gas during clashes with security forces in Caracas. Photograph: Yuri Cortéz/AFP/Getty Images

More reaction from the region, this time from Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez:

We forcefully condemn the attempted coup d’état under way in Venezuela. Cuba offers firm support and loyalty to Nicolás Maduro, the consitutional president of our sister nation and to his chavista and Bolivarian government. Let there be an end to the assaults on peace in [Latin] America.

Earlier this month, Cuba’s leader, Raúl Castro, promised that Cuba would never abandon its leftist ally Venezuela despite US “blackmail”, even as the Trump administration threatened more sanctions over its support.

The opposition leader Juan Guaidó was almost unknown both inside and outside Venezuela until the start of this year.

Guaidó was made chairman of the national assembly in January because it was the turn of his party, Voluntad Popular (People’s Will). At 35, he was a junior member of his party but its leaders were either under house arrest, in hiding or in exile.

He declared himself "interim president" that month, resting his claim on a clause in the constitution that allows the legislature to take power temporarily and call new elections if it deems the president to be failing to fulfil basic duties or to have vacated the post. 

Guaidó's relative obscurity initially proved an advantage in a country where the opposition has generally failed to distinguish itself, losing its nerve at critical moments, succumbing to infighting, and getting involved in a failed coup against Hugo Chávez in 2002.

He inspired a huge wave of protests inside Venezuela with a message of peaceful change, and won widespread international support. Countries from Europe to the US and regional powers recognised him as Venezuela's legitimate president, handing him control of bank accounts and Venezuelan assets along with the formal recognition.

As months dragged on however, Guaidó's hope of winning a wave of military defections that would end the rule of Nicolás Maduro seemed to fade, leaving his movement in an uneasy limbo - self-declared president but with no power.

He raised concerns inside Venezuela and internationally when he appeared to hint at the possibility of military intervention after a failed attempt to bring humanitarian aid into the country in February.

Questions have also been raised about the bedfellows Guaidó has chosen in what he calls his bid to rescue Venezuela. His main international backer is Donald Trump. 

Another key regional supporter is Brazil’s far-right firebrand president, Jair Bolsonaro, known for his hostility to human rights and his fondness for dictatorship. Despite these characteristics, Guaidó has praised what he called Bolsonaro’s “commitment to and for democracy [and] human rights”. 

This update from Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá:

Venezuelan military defectors who declared their support for Guaidó after crossing into neighbouring Colombia are now preparing to move back into Venezuela to support the uprising.

Two ex-soldiers in the Colombian border city Cúcuta told the Guardian that they were currently en route to the Tienditas bridge separating the countries.

“We are waiting for our orders from our president, Juan Guaidó,” said one sergeant who defected to Guaidó after crossing the border in late March.

Around 1000 Venezuelan soldiers, national guardsmen, and other security officials have crossed into Colombia over the last two months, according to Colombian migration officials.

He hasn’t tweeted about it yet, but Donald Trump is keeping an eye on Venezuela, Reuters reports.

“The president has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing situation,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in an email.

Venezuela’s ambassador to Spain, Mario Isea, has told the Spanish news agency Efe that the situation in Venezuela is under control:

The information I have is that there’s a small group who have tried to undermine order but things are under control.

This is from Patricia Torres, who reports for the Guardian from Venezuela:

I was in the middle of our morning routine when I heard a cacerolazo [people banging pots and bangs - a common form of protest in Venezuela and across Latin America] but when I was leaving the house, my neighbours told me ‘Don’t go because they took La Carlota [military base]’.

I looked out the window and could see children going back home from the school next door … people were doing a cacerolazo. I just spoke to my father who lives near La Carlota and he said he’d heard some loud bangs from there.

Spain’s El Mundo has video footage of clashes near the La Carlota military base:

Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States (OEA), has tweeted his support.

We welcome the adhesion of the military to the Constitution and to the President in charge of #Venezuela @jguaido. The fullest support for the democratic transition process is needed in a peaceful manner

Spain’s caretaker government has called for a bloodless and peaceful transition to a democratic presidential election in Venezuela.

Government spokeswoman Isabel Celaá says the government is following closely developments in Caracas, where the opposition has called for Venezuelans to take to the streets to oust Nicolás Maduro from power.

“We hope with all of our strength that there is no bloodshed. We support a peaceful democratic process in Venezuela. We support the immediate holding of an election for a new president,” Celaá said on Tuesday during a weekly routine press briefing.

Spain has recognised opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela but has not cut ties with Maduro’s government.

More than 177,000 Spaniards live in Venezuela, and Spain has become a destination for thousands of Venezuelans escaping the political and economic crisis in recent years.

Celaá said Guaidó has “legitimacy to lead democratic transition in Venezuela.”

She added: “Guaidó represents the alternative.”

(Via AP)

Vladimir Padrino, head of the Venezuelan military, says on Twitter that the armed forces are staying loyal to Maduro. He’s also hitting out at the “cowards” and “traitors” behind the coup.

The armed forces remain firm in their defence of the national constitution and the legitimate authorities. All military units deployed in the eight defence regions report things are normal in the barracks and military bases, which are under the command of their local commanders.

We reject this coup movement, which seeks to fill our country with violence. The pseudo-leaders at the head of this subversive movement are using troops and police officers armed with combat weapons on the streets of the city to stir up anxiety and terror.

You’re a bunch of cowards! We will remain firm in the defence of constitutional order and the peace of the republic, backed up by law, history and what is right. Ever loyal, never traitors!

Updated

This from our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips:

By coincidence, the son of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro - one of Juan Guaidó’s key regional backers - is up on Brazil’s border with Venezuela this week.

Politician Eduardo Bolsonaro - who many seee as Brazil’s parallel foreign minister - has taken a group of lawmakers to Roraima state to see up close the plight of Venezuelan refugees in the region

There were sporadic efforts with tear gas to break up the protesters who gathered on a highway overpass in wealthier eastern Caracas. It appeared to have been fired from inside the Carlota air base. But more people gathered as they sensed what could be their strongest opportunity yet to overthrow the government.

“It’s now or never,” said one of the young soldiers, his face covered in the blue bandanna preferred by the few dozen soldiers who stood alongside Guaidó and López.

(Via AP)

Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, has tweeted his full-throated condemnation of today’s events:

We forcefully condemn the attempted coup d’état in Venezuela, which is being conducted by the right and backed by foreign interests. But we are sure that the brave Bolivarian Revolution of our brother Nicolas Maduro will reassert itself after this new imperial attack.

The US, with its meddling and coup-waging, looks to wreak violence and death in Venezuela, caring only about its interests and nothing about the human losses. We must be united on our guard so that the coup-perpetrators never return to our region.

This is from López himself:

The definitive phase towards the end of the usurpation has begun, Operation Freedom. I’ve been freed by soldiers following the constitution and President Guaidó. I’m at the La Carlota base. Let’s all mobilise. It’s time to win Freedom. Stength and Faith.

Updated

Venezuela’s socialist party boss, Diosdado Cabello, has called on government supporters to amass at the presidential palace to defend Nicolás Maduro from what he says is a small uprising of traitorous military soldiers backed by the US.

His comments in a phone call to state TV came after opposition leader Juan Guaidó appeared in a video with a small contingent of heavily armed soldiers and formerly detained opposition activist Leopoldo López calling for Venezuelans to take to the streets to oust Maduro.

Cabello downplayed the significance of the rebellion, saying Caracas is in calm and that the Carlota air base near where the rebellious soldiers are gathered had not been touched. (Via AP)

A useful piece here on who Leopoldo López is and why he’s such an important figure:

Leopoldo López has been under house arrest since 2017, but he played a key role in Juan Guaidó’s sudden ascent from the political margin to Venezuela’s would-be president.

It was López who ensured Guaidó would lead the national assembly when Maduro began his second term in early January, placing his man at the centre of a geopolitical storm when the US and a host of other democracies recognised him as the country’s legitimate president.

Updated

This from Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament:

Today marks a historic day for the return of democracy and freedom to Venezuela - which the European parliament has always supported. The freeing of Leopold López by soldiers obeying the constitution is great news. Long live a free Venezuela!

Our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, has just tweeted this:

Still not clear what is going on in Venezuela this morning but this is an all-or-nothing move from Guaidó & his team. No way to back track from an attempt to seize a key military installation right at the heart of the capital.

More from AP:

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has taken to the streets with a small contingent of heavily-armed soldiers and detained activist Leopoldo López in a military uprising.

“This is the moment of all Venezuelans, those in uniform and those who aren’t,” said López in his first public appearance since being detained in 2014 for leading anti-government protests. “Everyone should come to the streets, in peace.”

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Leopoldo López, the opposition politician who is meant to be under house arrest, has been freed by military - which explains his presence next to Guaidó.

US Senator Marco Rubio, who has been instrumental in shaping Trump’s Venezuela policy, is on Twitter, urging Venezuelan military personeel and civilians to rise up:

This is the moment for those military officers in #Venezuela to fulfill their constitutional oath & defend the legitimate interim President @jguaido in this effort to restore democracy. You can write history in the hours & days ahead.

After years of suffering freedom is waiting for people of #Venezuela. Do not let them take this opportunity from you. Now is the moment to take to the streets in support of your legitimate constitutional government. Do not allow this moment to slip away. It may not come again

This just in from the Associated Press:

Tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where opposition leader Guaidó has appeared with soldiers.

Venezuela’s information minister, Jorge Rodríguez, has just tweeted this:

We inform the Venezuelan people that we are currently tackling and putting down a small group of traitorous military personnel who … are engaged in a coup d’état against the constitution and the peace of the republic. This effort is being backed by the murderous, coup-plotting extreme right, which announced its violent plans months ago. We call on the people to remain on maximum alert so that, together with the glorious national Bolivarian armed forces, we can defeat the attempted coup and preserve the peace. We will prevail.

My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison has written a piece on the breaking story:

In a possible sign that Guaidó can only count on the support of a portion of the military, he called on Venezuelans to come out into the streets in a show of non-violent force.

‘People of Venezuela, its necessary that we all go out into the streets, to support democracy and recover our liberty. Organised and united, we should move to the main military installations,’ he said, calling on those in the capital to head to the air base where he made the recording. ‘People of Caracas, everyone to La Carlota.

‘The armed forces have taken the correct decision, they can count on the support of the people of Venezuela, the support of our constitution, the guarantee that they are on the right side of history,’ he said in a statement on Twitter.

Guaidó claims 'final phase' under way to oust Maduro

Welcome to the Guardian’s liveblog of what could be a momentous day in Venezuela. The opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, has appeared in a video posted online to launch what he called the “final phase” of his plan to oust President Nicolás Maduro.

In the video, posted on his Twitter account, Guaidó called on Venezuelans and the military to support his bid to end Maduro’s “usurpation”.

He was speaking in the company of men in military uniform and opposition politician Leopoldo López, who is supposedly under house arrest. He said he was at the Caracas air base La Carlota.

“The national armed forces have taken the correct decision, and they count on the support of the Venezuelan people,” Guaido said.

Updated

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